Jamshedpur, Dec. 25: The recent move to beef up police presence at the Dimna Lake complex is not attracting as many tourists as expected as another issue has cropped up: the non-availability of toilets at the picnic hotspot.

Dimna Lake is bustling with visitors today, a phenomenon seen around Christmas. But one perceivable change was that most visitors were on sightseeing trips and picnickers were few.

Apart from the absence of any toilets, a major problem for women, the presence of hooligans has given the place a bad name. As a result, picnickers who used to consider Dimna a favourite spot are not going elsewhere.

“Last time we had been here on a picnic was in 2001, and we had enjoyed the trip very much. But this time we learnt through some travel agencies that the place is no longer favourable for picnics and is worth only a sightseeing visit. So we chose Ghatshila as our destination and we are just sightseeing in Dimna before leaving,” said Abhijit Mukherjee, from Sealdah in Calcutta.

Mukherjee, an executive in a private bank, said they had gathered the information before leaving on vacation.

“We wanted to get a sketchy idea about Dimna. Through the innumerable travel agents operating in Bengal we learnt that the place is not suitable to picnic especially if we are bringing our family. The lack of toilets is a major problem,” he added.

Another tourist from Bengal, Sunil Sen, said the authorities ought to set up a public latrine here at the earliest.

“We would want to become a little adventurous while planing picnics. But fear that hooligans might disrupt our plans and the lack of basic civic amenities at an important picnic spot like Dimna has turned our trip into a nightmare,” he said, narrating his experience of running around the lake complex looking for a latrine.

Uday Shanker Singh from Rourkela, too, had the same complaint.

“We had come to Dimna on a one-day picnic. But some women in the group wanted to go to the bathroom and we were forced to book rooms in a hotel. Had we known that Dimna lacks basic amenities, we would never have planned a trip here,” he added.

The only silver lining, according to the picnickers, is the comforting presence of security personnel.